To A Young Woman
I wouldn’t trade my bright glorious wisdom
So painstakingly and slowly now attained
For your youthful dewy smooth skin
Or the excitement of being newly alive
Because inexperience and sheer stupidity
Is the hard uphill path you must climb
To even begin to know who you are
And learn what matters or doesn’t make a damn
Yes, there are memories so sweet and good
But so much naïveté embarrassing too
Remembering all the times I thought
Something or someone was a good idea
When it or he very obviously was not
Being young and pretty was great
But now I know it wasn’t the best
Because I’ve found now is my time
Wrinkled, wizened and tough inside
There’s steel where only gooey mush
Used to shiver quiver and reside
I can do whatever I please or nothing too
No one counts my hours or claims my days
And especially not my lovely nights
I’m comfortable in this sagging skin
But much brighter and fetching inside
Than when I was a bubble head doll
Youthful but lacking any substance
Only now am I truly fully me
In possession of a self all my own
Completely experienced I’ve become
I am wise as only those who’ve gutted
Through many rounds good, bad and sad
Seasons put their marks across my face
It’s no wonder with all I’ve withstood
So look at me as just an old woman
And think yourself better in every way,
But you’ve yet no weight or substance
And you’re blown about by the wind
This way and that not knowing your way,
But dear in years to come you’ll be okay
When you’ve worn all your youth away
You’ll realize your own wisdom someday
Then like me you’ll be fully your own
And you’ll reap whatever you’ve sown.
